straight beats three-of-a-kind.

and if those cute little symbols near the numbers on the cards of that straight are all the same, try not to look too surprised.

Unless you’re playing me. Then tell away.

I play poker whenever I get a chance to with my buddies. It most certainly is a good way to relax and just have a good time. We usually play for 20 dollar buy-ins and the games last well into the night (much to the chagrin of the Mrs.)

My mother was taught to gamble by a Native American who worked at a casino. He started by asking, “how much fun do you want to have.” Of course my mother didn’t understand so he pulled out $20 and said, “I want to have $20 of fun, how much fun do YOU want to have?”

Gambling is inherently addicting as we respond particularly well to variable rewards. At the same time, it need not be negative. If you teach your kids that gambling is NEVER for making money and ONLY for having fun, it can become a fun activity like any other. If you go into gambling expecting or even hoping to win big, you’ll likely lose it all.

It’s possible to make money playing poker, but don’t expect it to be easy. It takes years of training and thousands of hours of practice and serves some people as a full-time job. Of course, for most people that serious it functions as a full-time SECOND job.

I say go for it, have a lot of fun, and expect to lose $5 to your friends for a good night. If you do it often enough, you might win now and again, and sure, it’ll be competitive, but as long as you’re doing it for fun and it fits in the ‘fun’ portion of your budget, I say have a blast!

I’d also make the claim that a skillful poker player avoids gambling whenever possible. A skillful player uses all the information at his disposal (his cards, the odds of getting what he needs to make his hand, his instincts about other players’ cards in some cases, etc.) to make the best possible decision time after time.

That being said, $5 for a poker game is a great way to relax with your friends and just have some fun. Also, if you’re into the numbers you may really enjoy delving deeper into poker theory. Poker really is a lot of fun, and as long as you don’t go overboard and see it as a way to get rich quick because you’ve “got a system” or “just KNOW what Joe Shmo’s holding,” you should be alright.

If it doesn’t bother you that you play small games of poker with friends then I don’t think it will affect your children. You could easily argue that for most people credit cards are more likely to get them in to trouble.